~ Contemporary poetry and literary classics from Cleveland to Infinity

Overture To A Dance Of Locomotives (by William Carlos Williams)

Overture To A Dance Of Locomotivesby William Carlos Williams[from Sour Grapes (1921)]

Men with picked voices chant the names of cities in a huge gallery: promises that pull through descending stairways to a deep rumbling.

The rubbing feet of those coming to be carried quicken a grey pavement into soft light that rocks to and fro, under the domed ceiling, across and across from pale earthcolored walls of bare limestone.

Covertly the hands of a great clock go round and round! Were they to move quickly and at once the whole secret would be out and the shuffling of all ants be done forever.

A leaning pyramid of sunlight, narrowing out at a high window, moves by the clock: disaccordant hands straining out from a center: inevitable postures infinitely repeated— two—twofour—twoeight! Porters in red hats run on narrow platforms. This way ma’am! —important not to take the wrong train! Lights from the concrete ceiling hang crooked but— Poised horizontal on glittering parallels the dingy cylinders packed with a warm glow—inviting entry— pull against the hour. But brakes can hold a fixed posture till— The whistle!

Not twoeight. Not twofour. Two!

Gliding windows. Colored cooks sweating in a small kitchen. Taillights—